HC Deb 02 March 1976 vol 906 cc536-7W
Mrs. Chalker

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) if she will publish in the Official Report an estimate of the distribution of workers on each of the three main incremental scales employed by the Supplementary Benefit Commission;

(2) if she will publish in the Official Report the incremental scale of every grade of worker employed by the Supplementary Benefit Commission;

(3) if she will publish in the Official Report the number of workers in each of the job grades employed by the Supplementary Benefit Commission.

Mr. Meacher

It is not possible to identify separately staff of my Department employed solely on the work of the Supplementary Benefits Commission, which does not itself employ staff, from those engaged on national insurance work. The table below shows the total number of staff employed in Social Security local offices on 1st February 1976 and their scales of pay.

towards postgraduate tuition of medical practitioners.

Dr. Owen

Specialities as such neither qualify for nor are refused grants Decisions relate to specific courses which may be in any speciality; these decisions are matters for the postgraduate medical deans of universities.

Mr. Tom Ellis

asked the Secretary of State for Social Services if she is satisfied that all fields of medicine, and in particular that of homoeopathic medicine, currently covered by the National Health Service are adequately served by the postgraduate education available to medical practitioners.

Dr. Owen

The content and form of post-graduate medical education are primarily matters for the medical profession itself to determine. University post-graduate deans, in conjunction with regional committees, advise on postgraduate medical education for doctors working in the National Health Service and they are responsible for seeing that suitable courses are organised. As regards homoeopathy, the councils for postgradute medical education have stated that they could not commend this as a subject for inclusion in courses recognised by deans for payment from central funds of the fees and expenses of general practitioners. This guidance however, is not mandatory; individual decisions are for the deans.